


Conium maculatum

by Mortissimo



Category: The Tribe (TV 1999)
Genre: Drama, M/M, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-09-16
Updated: 2010-09-16
Packaged: 2017-10-11 21:29:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,546
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/117320
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mortissimo/pseuds/Mortissimo





	1. Drink

Thus far the day hadn't been going well. One of Mega's hologram projectors had broken down seemingly of its own volition, there was growing unrest in the eastern quarter of the City, and the Citynet Announcer was out of the picture with a sudden flu. To top it all off, it had been discovered that Java had snuck out again yesterday, and back in this morning. Mega wasn't sure how she had managed to get past the guards and the security cameras, but if he ever found out who let her out he promised himself he'd make sure it would never happen again. His spoken reasons for not letting her roam free were sound ones, that he needed to keep up appearances of being her captor for the sake of their temporary allies. In truth, he wanted to keep her hidden and out of the way. Mega knew full well Java could be a dangerous woman, a force to be reckoned with, if she was allowed any space to move in. It disturbed him intensely that he had no real control over her. He resolved to fix that.

Flanked by two guards, Mega stalked down the corridor, his mouth set in a grim line. Upon reaching the door to Java's room he nodded curtly to one of the guards, who unlocked it and held it open. There she was, the bitch, sitting prim and proper as anything at her vanity. She sat with her back to the door, although Mega could see the reflection of her smirk in the mirror. Next to her on the table was a bottle of red wine and two glasses, each half-full. Seeing this, Mega's mood darkened yet further. He refused outright to be swayed by her threats or her bribes.

"Shut the door but stay close," he instructed his men under his breath as he stepped into the room. Java welcomed him with a molded plastic smile, turning around in her chair to get a better look at the Techno General.

"Hello, Mega," she drawled, "had a bad day?" The tone of her voice made the hair on the back of Mega's neck stand on end. She was up to something and Mega knew it, but he was too tired and too overworked and too pissed off to try and puzzle out her motives.

"What the hell were you doing?" He hissed at her, stalking across the room to loom over the seated Java. "What part of 'playing prisoner' don't you understand? You're jeopardising all of our efforts!" If Java was intimidated, she didn't show it, maintaining her icy exterior in the face of Mega's anger.

"Calm down. I was just out taking a stroll to see my sister. Or aren't I allowed to do that anymore?" Listening to her cloying speech was only making things worse.

"No," Mega growled, "you aren't! Do you have any idea how screwed we would be if Ebony were to-"

"I never said I was out visiting Ebony. I do have two sisters, you know." Java's smirk was infuriating. Unconsciously, Mega's hands curled into tight fists at his sides. He wanted nothing more than to smack the smug look off of her face. "Siva happens to be easily swayed. I think I can make her sympathetic to our cause." As much as he hated to admit it, this was a more or less solid excuse in Mega's book. Not that he had to let Java know that.

"It was still a dangerous thing to do," he told her, the fire gone from his voice but still smouldering behind his eyes. "You're not supposed to be allowed outside."

"Don't worry," Java reassured him, reaching for one of the wineglasses, "I'm positive nobody saw me. Even if they did, I can always think of something. Here-" she held out the wineglass, "-have a drink. Relax."

"I can't afford to relax," Mega snapped. "I have other things to do, you know, not that I don't enjoy our little chats." Vaguely he wondered what Java could have up her sleeve. Something insiduous, no doubt. He really didn't have the time for this kind of thing.

"Come on, Mega. I went through a lot of trouble to get this." Java leaned back in her chair, moving the wineglass a little further towards him. "At least let's share a toast."

 _As long as it gets you to shut up,_ Mega thought exasperatedly, reaching out to take the proffered glass. Glancing into the crimson liquid, he missed the brief grin that flashed across Java's features. "To what shall we drink, then?"

"To success. To power and chaos." Java picked up the other wineglass, raised it halfway to her lips, and paused. "To world peace." She drank.

"To world peace," Mega agreed, taking a small sip of the liquid before setting the glass back down on the vanity. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have work to do." Ignoring Java's muttered words, he turned away and stalked back out of her room, closing the door softly behind him. "Don't move from here until someone comes to relieve you," Mega ordered, glancing between the two guards. He trusted few people, and only one or two completely, but these soldiers he could afford to have some faith in. "If you do, I will personally make sure that you regret it. Do I make myself clear?" The guards nodded silently, and Mega suppressed a pleased smile. "Good." Turning on his heel, he made his way towards the control room, where, if everything was going according to schedule, Jay should have been waiting for him.

Mega ended up waiting fifteen minutes for Jay to arrive. The former Techno was apologetic, however, and Mega was able to keep his irritation in check. He knew he shouldn't make allowances for this temporary ally, but he couldn't bring himself to stay seething at Jay the way he did with Java. Even the pounding headache that had begun to assult him seemed to lighten a bit with Jay's presence. They sat close together in companionable silence, each looking through the system to find some hint towards turning on the rest of the City's power. In his exhausted and, now, pained state, however, Mega was sure he could have found a file advertising the password to Ram's shell account in giant flashing neon letters and passed it by without a second glance. A few minutes into searching an unpleasant tingling along his spine was added to the mental list of Mega's complaints, voiced by a soft sound of irritation.

"Did you find something?" Jay leaned over to look at Mega's monitor and, seeing only the same mess of files they'd both been staring at for days now, glanced to Mega with a concerned frown. "Are you all right?"

"No, and yes," Mega lied, one hand raising to rub the back of his neck in order to get rid of the weird feeling there.

"Are you sure? Maybe we ought to take a break. You don't look so great." Jay's sincere worry might have been welcomed at another time, but this entire day had been a waste, and Mega was not about to throw away this opportunity to actually get something accomplished.

"We just started and we have a long way to go yet. We can't afford to waste any more time." To his surprise, Mega saw flecks of spit dotting the monitor. He reached out half-consciously to wipe them off, frowning to himself. He hadn't thought he'd been speaking very vehemently.

"Well, we're not going to get anything done if you're sick," Jay murmured, laying a hand on Mega's shoulder.

"I'm not sick," Mega protested, finding it difficult to speak properly. As if to contradict him, he felt a sharp pain beginning in his abdomen. "I'm a little tired, but I can still work." It felt as though he was trying to talk past a mouthful of spit. Much to his horror, a strand of saliva began to dribble down his chin. He hurriedly swiped it away, praying that Jay hadn't noticed. The sudden onset of this was mystifying to him. Maybe it was a consequence of the weeks of insomnia and work catching up to him.

"I don't believe you," Jay said, rising to come stand over Mega, who tried to look up at him but stopped short, wincing. The lights of the control room were usually not extraordinarily bright, but today they were apparently bright enough to cause him pain. "God," he murmured sympathetically, dropping to one knee beside Mega's chair, "you look awful."

"Thanks," Mega muttered dryly, speaking through gritted teeth to keep from accidentally spitting at Jay. The pain in his stomach was much worse now, competing for attention with the pain in his head and the pins and needles lacing his spine. Turning back to the computer, Mega rested his hands on the keyboard and began typing again. The words came out as total gibberish, his rebellious fingers refusing to bend to his will.

"Mega, you're not all right," Jay insisted, forcibly swivelling Mega's chair around to face him. Mega was inclined to agree. The sudden movement turned his stomach and he leaned away from Jay, gagging. For once he was thankful he hadn't had anything to eat or drink today aside from that one sip of Java's wine. That thought seemed as though it ought to have more significance, but Mega wasn't quite equipped to deal with it at the moment. His hands were shaking as Jay took one and cradled it for a moment before unzipping Mega's sleeve and pushing it up. Jay's concern took on a fearful edge. "Your pulse is... crazy." Keeping a tight grip on Mega's wrist as though to hold him there, Jay leaned over and pressed the back of his hand against Mega's forehead. "No fever..."

"Jay," Mega groaned, letting his eyes slide shut and slumping slowly forward in his chair. His fingers were twitching now, beyond his control, the muscles in his back spasming periodically. He wasn't sure if he'd wanted to ask Jay to hold him or kill him. It didn't matter now, he couldn't remember.

"How long have you been sick like this?" No point in denying it now, although Mega's denial of illness had been as much supposed fact as it had been fabrication. He hadn't thought he was sick.

"About five minutes," Mega responded weakly, feeling the tremors in his hands spread through his entire body. Jay was a warm and welcome wall around him as he began to cough violently, trying to turn his head away. Mega's toes were beginning to go numb.

"Five minutes?" Jay sounded aghast, frightened. His comforting murmur was getting difficult to hear over Mega's retching coughs. "Think, Mega, what've you eaten today?" Mega went cold. His body began to shake with humourless laughter in addition to the fit of coughing and the worsening tremors. He should have seen it coming. It was so simple, so obvious, so straightforward, that it had gone completely underneath his radar.

"That bitch," Mega wheezed, clinging to Jay for support. The numbness was slowly creeping up his legs, changing the shaking into a much more sinister stillness. "That goddamn bitch." An attempt at laughter brought on more coughing, and he half-heard Jay call for help from a world away.

"Who was it, Mega? Tell me who did this to you." The voice was right beside his ear now, so close that he couldn't be sure if he'd heard the question or imagined it. Neither would have surprised him.

"Java," Mega gasped out as his world slowly descended into darkness and silence.


	2. Broken

"Tell me who did this to you." Jay felt helpless as he watched Mega's rapid deterioration. The racing pulse he could feel against his cheek began to slow down as the jerking and twitching body in his arms gradually stilled. For only a moment Jay took this as a good sign, until he felt the warm breaths against his neck become more spaced out, more uneven.

"Java," Mega had gasped out as his body went limp in Jay's arms, his breathing trailing off to nothing. Panic rising inside him, Jay carefully pulled Mega down off the chair and laid him out on the floor, looking up as a pair of guards rushed in. One glance at the body of their commander on the floor and they raised their wrist blasters at Jay, the distinctive high-pitched whine slicing through the soft sighing of the computers.

"He's been poisoned, goddamn it!" One of the guards scowled, began to pull his wrist back. "Not by me," Jay was quick to amend, glancing between them and Mega. He knew the window of time in which he could bring the General back was narrow and getting narrower, and that he didn't have time for arguing. "Go apprehend Java." The guards hesitated, sharing a look of indecision. Pulling himself together, Jay summoned the last scraps of the commander he had been and barked out, " _now_!" The two turned and fled off down the hall, the whine of their blasters following them. Once they were out of sight, Jay turned back to Mega and hesitated. He'd taken a life guarding class when he was thirteen, but that had been more than seven years ago, and an entire lifetime away. The frantic adrenaline rushing through his system wasn't helping his memory any, either, and that awful helpless feeling began to reassert itself. The idea of watching anyone die scared him, but the thought of Mega dying here, in front of him, while there was still something he could have done, woke a sick feeling of dread in him. That thought was enough to knock him out of his near-panicked state, and he reached down and deliberately took Mega's glasses off and set them up on one of the surrounding desks with a soft 'click'. Ignoring a faintly mocking voice in the back of his mind, Jay pinched Mega's nose shut and inhaled deeply, bending to seal his mouth over Mega's and force his breath into paralysed lungs. Trying not to think about the way Mega's lips felt against his at a time like this, Jay sat back on his heels and silently counted to five. There was no movement from the body on the ground. Pinching Mega's nose again, he leaned forward and repeated the process. Behind him he heard someone stumble into the room.

"Oh my God." Jay vaguely recognised the voice as belonging to Amber. He forced himself not to react until he'd passed all of the air from his lungs to Mega's. "What the hell are you doing?" Jay sat up and watched Mega's chest intently, counting in his head between words.

 _One,_ "He's," _two_ , "dying." _Three_. "Been," _four_ , "poisoned." _Five_. Jay locked lips with Mega again, and caught himself wishing that the circumstances could have been better. His own pulse was a dull roar in his ears, belying his carefully maintained outer calm. Tears pricked menacingly at the backs of his eyeballs.

"And you have to give him mouth-to-mouth?" Amber sounded sarcastic, but her tone grew more uncertain as she stepped over Mega's legs and came into Jay's field of vision. He felt a pang of regret as he noticed how tired she looked, like she hadn't slept in days, but that was nothing compared to the tide of worry for Mega's life that was consuming him.

"Stopped breathing," Jay explained succinctly. _Four. Five._ Mega's lips were warm and soft, and Jay felt a perplexing little stab of embarrassment that hadn't been present before Amber had walked into the room. Sure Jay was doing what he thought was necessary, and sure he was scared out of his wits, but on some level, some perverse part of him was enjoying the way Mega's mouth felt.

"What poison makes you stop breathing?" He was surprised to find that he was getting a bit irritated by her questions, and by her mere presence. This was the girl he was in love with. This was the girl who had been in the forefront of his mind since he had met her. This was the girl who was distracting him from saving Mega's life.

"Most of them do," Jay snapped as he came up for air again, "that's the general idea behind poisoning somebody." The anger behind his words was unexpected, and he tried unsuccessfully to shove his own feelings onto the back burner for the time being. More important things were at stake. Amber remained blessedly silent for the next few minutes, pulling up a chair next to him. Jay's attention was almost all focused on Mega, and so he missed the strange looks Amber was giving him between breaths, her lips parted as though she was about to speak. He found himself resting his fingertips lightly on Mega's neck as he watched for any sign of life, more for the mere sake of maintained contact than anything else. Throughout this Mega's heartbeat hadn't faded, although it had dropped to a nearly imperceptible pulse against his fingertips. The poison had stopped his breath, but it apparently hadn't quite stopped his heart. Jay felt a sliver of hope.

"Do you know who...?" Amber's voice was much quieter now, more of a background presence than a demand. Jay glanced up at her.

"He said Java." There was another soft sound from Amber's direction, dismissal or possibly agreement. The rhythm of pinch, breathe, release, and wait was beginning to become familiar to Jay, the deep breaths and slow exhalation calming his frayed nerves a bit. The hand on Mega's neck moved to unconsciously brush over the prickly fuzz of his hair. He'd buzzed it again recently, Jay noticed, nearly down to its roots. Not that Mega would ever let his hair grow much longer than this. Everything about him was so clipped, so restrained. His expression now was as relaxed-looking as Jay had ever seen him. That didn't seem right..

"I'm going to go now," Amber said so softly Jay nearly missed it, slowly pushing her chair back. She stood over Jay and Mega for a long moment, staring down at them with an unreadable expression. Jay's attention remained fixed on Mega as he nodded to her and waved distractedly. After she had gone, Jay risked a glance at her receding form over his shoulder, between breaths. She hadn't seemed to care whether Mega lived or died, a thought that disturbed Jay although it didn't particularly surprise him. He wondered if her reaction would have been so understated if it had been him poisoned, with Mega trying to bring him back.

"Don't die," he whispered, staring intently down at Mega's apparently peaceful face. Bending to administer another breath, he let his eyes slide closed and, acting on a sudden whim, touched his tongue lightly to Mega's. The contact lasted only a moment before he pulled back, feeling ashamed of himself, but he couldn't deny feeling a guilty little thrill shoot through him. "Don't die," Jay repeated. "Please. I still need you here." Sealing his mouth over Mega's again, Jay slid two fingertips over his throat until he found a pulse, weak but gradually steadying. "I can't fix the world alone. Please don't leave me," he pleaded as their lips parted, resting his forehead against Mega's. Ved was gone, Ram was gone, Ebony hated him, Amber was trying to pretend he didn't exist... so many of the people Jay had loved were leaving his life, one by one. Jay forced back tears, feeling the ugly helplessness wash over him again. He didn't know for certain what he felt for Mega, and Mega's feelings for anyone were always a mystery. But the boy had been something like Jay's friend in the Technos for so many years, had been a faithful ally in bringing down Ram's rule. Losing this last remaining companion might be enough to break Jay's heart. Opening his eyes with a start, he cursed softly as he realised that he'd lost count of the seconds between breaths. Squashing a surge of returning panic, he moved to press his lips to Mega's again when he felt a faint breath of warmth against his skin. Jay sat back on his heels and stared intently at Mega's chest, praying silently but fervently to whatever benevolent Gods were listening. There. Mega's chest rose and fell, a minute but definite movement.

Inundated with relief, Jay felt an almost painful burning in his chest as he stared down at the unconscious but alive boy. One hand came to rest on the silver plate on Mega's chest, feeling the heartbeat and the faint movement with each shallow breath that was taken. Jay sat like that for a long time before more Technos came, to tell him that Java had been captured trying to sneak out and to help him take Mega to his room. He insisted on keeping a close watch over Mega and on carrying him there, bearing the General's slight weight with ease. That night he did not sleep, and in the morning the guards who came to wake him found him with his head resting on his arms, his arms folded on the pillow beside Mega's head.

**Author's Note:**

> Ancient history. Ancient.


End file.
